Soon afterwards more-advanced 'boosted', or 'layered' atomic bombs began being developed. The atomic bombing of Nagasakiįar more powerful weapons were just around the corner though. These immensely powerful processes provide the science behind the technology of nuclear weapons. This produces an enormous amount of binding energy - it's the process of fusion that that powers active stars. Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is where two or more nuclei fuse together. This is where the nucleus of an atom is split into smaller nuclei, producing a huge amount of energy - a concept which underpins all nuclear weapons. The story of nuclear warfare arguably starts in 1789 with the discovery of the chemical element uranium.īut it wasn't until nearly 150 years later that nuclear fission was first achieved. Much of the world fears Iran or North Korea developing them and the capability to deliver them. But less powerful countries have also long had ambitions to hold nuclear weapons. The paranoia of the Cold War, it would seem, may not be a thing of the past. Russia followed soon after.īetween them, the two superpowers hold the vast majority of the world's nuclear weapons. The United States was the first country to develop nuclear weapons.
In an act of incomparable bravery, he dismissed the missile and the subsequent four missiles that were to follow as malfunctions of the missile detection system. Should he alert his superiors or dismiss the attack as a false alarm? It was and still is the policy of Russia to launch a second-strike attack, meaning that if Stanislav had reported the incident to his superiors they would have almost certainly retaliated with their own nuclear strike. It would prove to be a fateful duty for Stanislav because shortly after midnight the computers in the station detected an American missile heading towards the Soviets. The man in question was Stanislav Petrov, who was on duty in the Soviet's nuclear early warning command centre.Ĭode-named 'Oko', meaning eye, it collated information from multiple satellites in geosynchronous orbits that endlessly monitored the skies for ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads on their way to attack the Soviet Union. On the evening of September the 26th, 1983, the actions, or possibly inactions, of a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces would change the course of history. As increased resources are announced for nuclear weapons under the Integrated Review, here, BFBS explores a weapon that changed the world and the course of history - the Atomic Bomb.